Kampen om utmarka: Hytter, beitemark eller urørt natur?

In the Norwegian outfields (utmark), traditional agricultural use, nature conservation, tourism and second home development are opposing interests. This chapter focuses on the municipality of Oppdal and key discourses regarding future land use. Furthermore, how those discourses can lead to continuity or changes in the balance of power in relation to land-use management. The chapter is based on different sources. One is a project focusing on drawing up a master plan for destination development in Oppdal. Other sources include three years of experience holding field courses for natural resource management students at NTNU, in addition to a literature search. Four different discourses related to management of the outfields are identified. Second home development has been an important economic driving force in the local community, and one can identify this as a dominant discourse in the Oppdal community. Against this discourse, there are two other critical discourses. First, there is a discourse considering second home development as a threat to agriculture and grazing rights. The second is a nature conservation-oriented discourse that views second home development as a threat to nature values. As an attempt to bridge these opposing perspectives, a “win-win discourse” has been developed with a focus on sustainable second home development. The question is, does this represent a sufficient reorganization of land use or, on the contrary, represent a “greenwashing” of second home industry? This is an open question, but if we look at other environmental conflicts, then critical discourses often develop in opposition to such “win-win discourses”. Either way, Oppdal is facing some major decisions in relation to future land management.